No abstract

No abstract

Diversity and inclusion is one of the four areas in which Kath's and colleagues' (2021) focal article recommends instructors apply findings from the I-O psychology field to their own teaching practice when teaching undergraduate I-O psychology classes. One suggested large-scale change recommends that instructors engage in culturally responsive teaching practices by becoming diversity experts and allies to diverse people. This commentary builds on their suggestion by giving a more nuanced perspective of culturally responsive teaching practices based on Geneva Gay's (2002) work. Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) practices could make I-O psychology more appealing to a greater number of undergraduate students but, perhaps more importantly, encourage more minority students (otherwise largely underrepresented in I-O psychology) to join the field. Further, CRT exposes students in the majority to a wider array of experiences, which can increase their understanding and affinity toward people from other social groups. In this way, CRT can serve as a tool to teach empathy, which can improve attitudes toward and about people from different social groups (Bouley & Godfrey, 2008). Culturally responsive teaching Culturally responsive teaching uses "the cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives of ethnically diverse students as conduits for teaching them more effectively" (Gay, 2002, p. 106). Although Gay's article relates to cultural and ethnic diversity, practices could (and should) be expanded to include all students who may otherwise be marginalized: first generation, LGBTQ, international, veterans, and students with disabilities. One of the five skills required of CRT instructors is to have a solid knowledge base around cultural diversity which includes three core pieces (Gay, 2002). First, instructors must know the values, traditions, communication, learning styles, and how people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds relate to each other. This knowledge is essential because it has implications for classroom strategies and pedagogy. Second, instructors need to know the content written about diverse populations and include this information in instruction. Last, instructors must know about and use scholars from diverse backgrounds as exemplars in instruction. Interest is piqued and learning is accomplished when contexts are familiar and students can relate parts of their identities to those they are learning about (Gay, 2002). Educating all students about diversity and inclusion Educating all I-O undergraduate psychology students about diversity and inclusion will help them educationally and professionally. For students from marginalized backgrounds, CRT can help

“Yet” is a school-based youth development program intended to introduce elementarygrade students to concepts of growth mindset, self-leadership, resilience and self-talk to promote healthy coping strategies to persist in tasks toward more positive educational outcomes.  Drawing from psychology, education, and management literature focusing on self-leadership, the “Yet” program encourages interaction and internalization of concepts such as “growing the brain,” and “stinkin’ thinking,” while modeling how to reframe set-backs to things students have not mastered…”yet,” and practicing adaptive self-talk to promote coping and persistence.  This unique program holds promise because it is approximately 30 minutes long, occurs within the context of a regular school day, and can be implemented with a high measure of fidelity because it is script-based.  The success of the program may be augmented by principal and teacher support along with online videos.